Bottle-stopper



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(No Model.)

No. 554,389. Patentd Feb. 11, 1896.

Nirnn TATES ATENT FICE.

CLIFTON H. DAVIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AS SIGNO R OF Tl-IREE-FOURTHS TOARCHIBALD MCNEILL, OF SAME PLACE, AND GUSTAV HAUSMANN AND LEON A.RENAUD, OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS.

BOTTLE-STOPPER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 554,389, dated February11, 1896.

Application filed October 8, 1895. Serial No. 564,988. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CLIFTON II. DAVIS, of Chicago, Illinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Stoppers, ofwhich the following is a specification.

This invention relates to thatclass of hottle-stoppers which areemployed for sealing bottles containing liquids which exert aconsiderable-pressure, tending to force the stopper out, such as bottledbeer and other beverages heavily charged with carbonic-acid gas.

It is the purpose of this invention to pro vide a bottle-stopper whichshall not require any wire, cap or clamp for holding it and which shallby reason of its form and of the materials of which it is composedafford a tight joint or seal under all circumstances.

. One object of my invention is to provide a stopper which will fit anyordinary beer-bottle and which does not require any modification orspecial provision in the construction of the bottle itself.

A feature of my invention consists in the peculiar construction of thelifting-pin and in its manner of application to the rubber body.

According to the common practice of hot tling beer, and particularlybeer which is intended for export, the bottles are filled with theliquid, highly charged with carbonic-acid gas. The stoppers are thenapplied, and after the scaling is eifected the bottles are placed in avat and subjected to a liquid and steam bath, the temperature of thebottles and the contained liquid being raised, usually, to 148 or over.This increase of temperature generates a considerable additionalpressure within the bottle, so that a stopper which is effective towithstand the pressure due to the carbonic-acid gas is entirelyinsufficient to withstand the added pressure produced by thisprocessing.

Heretofore it has been common to apply wires, clamps or other means forconfining the stoppers previous to subjecting them to this heatingoperation. "With my improved bottle-stopper nothing of the kind isrequired and the goods may be processed or heated without the employmentof any such extraneous securing means.

stopper in water, when it may be readily driven into the bottle-neck.

The material employed in making the stopper is what is knowncommercially as 'pure soft rubber. Such rubber is not, of course, reallypure, nor need it be for the purposes of this invention. The term isused to designate rubber which has a high degree of com pressibility andwhich is practically homogeneous, in contradistinction to a bodycomposed of rubber and textile fabric in layers. These bottle-necks havean interior enlargement below the mouth of the opening, and which iscalled the choke. The stopper is driven down in application until itslower end passes to and preferably beyond this enlargement or choke.When in position the top of the stopper is considerably below the mouthof the bottle-neck and the upper end of the lifting-pin projects intothe plane or slightly above the plane of the opening. hen the bottlesare placed in the liquid bath with the stoppers inserted therein in themoist condi-' tion, the heat of the bath will rapidly raise thetemperature of the bottle-neck, and this will operate to completely drythe surface of the stopper in contact with the neck of the bottle.Whenthe stopper is thus dried its frictional power is very greatlyincreased, so that it is adequate to sustain the additional pressuregenerated within the bottle by the raising of the temperature of theliquid con tents. 1

The stopper under all circumstances, and even when moistened tofacilitate its inser tion in the bottle-neck, oifers sufficientfrictional resistance to withstand the ordinary pressure of the liquidcontents, but when it is thoroughly dried by the treatment in the bathits holding power is very greatly in creased, so that it is adequate towithstand the additional pressure.

The moistening of a stopper of the specified material and form, beforeinsertion in the neck of the bottle, produces an action or effeet whichis believed to be wholly new, and which for the purposes of thisinvention is of great importance. The stopper, as already stated, ismade of pure, or substantially pure, rubber-that is to say, of ahighlyelastic material. hen inserted into the neck of the bottle with itssurfaces dry, it is found that it cannot be driven, with the maximumpermissible force, far enough into the bottleneck to hold its placeagainst the internal pressure. The reason for this is that the drysurface of the stopper clings tightly to the neck of the bottle, whilethe elasticity of the rubber permits it to yield to the force of theblow applied to drive it in, the only effect of increasing the force ofthe blow being to stretch the rubber still further. Moisture, however,acts as a lubricant, so that with very slight force the stopper can bedriven in until its top is considerably below the mouth of the bottle.

WVhen moistened the described stopper can, with moderate pressure, beinserted into the neck of a bottle more than a quarter of an inchfarther than is possible, with maximum force, when the stopper andbottle-neck are dry. Vhen so applied, no internal pressure which thebottle itself can stand will expel the stopper. It will be observed thatto pro-' duce this result the stopper should be of pure homogeneousrubber, since rubber com pounds, made of waste and impure rubber, bothlack the necessary elasticity and also usually have incorporated in themfibrous material which absorbs and retains moisture. Furthermore, thestopper should have a considerable area of contact with the bottle-neck,being in the form of a plug rather than a disk, as now commonly usedwith bottles having a special lodgment or groove in the neck. The heightor length of axis of the body or plug should not, however, be greaterand preferably is slightly less than its shortest diameter, since anyincrease of height beyond this diameter renders the removal of thestopper more difiicult, the motion in removal being practically one ofrotation, or in the arc of a circle.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is an elevation, partly invertical section, showing the stopper applied to a bottle and theuncorking implement in position. Fig. 2 is a partial plan view of thesame. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the stopper. Fig. 4 is a sideelevation of the body of the stopper with the pin removed, and Fig. 5shows the pin.

In the drawings, 6 represents an ordinary beer-bottle, the neck of whichis shown in section in Fig. 1, and the perimeter of said neck havingwhat is technically called a choke that is, an enlargement or swell 7 inthe inner surface of the neck below the mouth of the opening, and thebore of the neck being inelin ed each way from said choke. The neck,therefore, presents in cross-section two cone frustums with theirsmaller ends joined.

The stopper has its body portion composed of soft rubber, and is marked8. In form it is slightly conical and its height is slightly greaterthan its shortest diameter. It is provided with a central opening,(shown at 9, Fig. 4,)and through this central opening a lifting-pin isthrust. Said lifting-pin is shown in Fig. 5.

The lifting-pin is preferably made from a steel wire or rod of uniformdiameter, one end of the rod being upset, as at 10, to provide aretaining-disk to prevent the withdrawal of the pin through the openingin the body. The body of the pin 11 is greater in length than the rubberbody 8, and in its upper end a pcripheral groove 12 is turned to providea shoulder 13 and head 14. The circumference of this shoulder is thesame as the body 11, and therefore the pin may be inserted upwardlythrough the aperture in the rubber body. Said head furnishes meanswhereby the stopper can be withdrawn by the application of an implement,such as shown in Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings, said instrument having asuitable handle, as at 15, and a shank 16, terminating in claws 17, withan aperture between the claws adapted to embrace the reduced portion orneck beneath the shoulder 13. The heel of the claw is somewhat thickenedand is of such shape as to engage the upper edge of thebottle-neck,which is slightly rounded, as shown at 18, and furnishes arolling fulcrum over which the leverage is exerted to remove thestopper.

By reference to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the body of the stopper isforced down until its lower end passes the enlargement or choke 7, andit is shown as expanded outwardly, thus pressing against the inclinedsurfaces of the bottle-neck below the choke. For ordinary use and exceptwhen it is designed to withstand very great pressure it will not benecessary to force the stopperbelow the choke or narrowest portion ofthe bottle-neck. By making the body slightly tapering or inclined itssides adhere closely and tightly to the similarlyshaped surfaces of thebottle -neck, therefore furnishing an extended bearingsurface and beingmuch more efficient than a stopper having a cylindrical body. In fact,it has been demonstrated by experiment that if the stopper shown beapplied in an inverted position and the large end be forced past thechoke it will not hold so effectively as when applied in the properposition, as indicated in the drawings. The resistance of the internalpressure tending to dislodge the stopper is due of course to thefriction of the sides of the stopper of the soft-rubber body upon theinterior surfaces of the neck, and as friction is in proportion to thearea of the surfaces in contact rather than in proportion to the ex- IIOpansive force or elasticity of the material the shape of the stopperbecomes highly important, and a stopper of the form shown in thedrawings has the necessary frictional surface to withstand the expellingpressure of the confined liquid.

It will be observed that when the stopper is in position thewithdrawing-stem is protected by the bottle-neck and projects soslightly that it does not render the bottles incon venient to pack orhandle, nor sufficiently to make the stopper liable to be accidentallywithdrawn It will be understood that the body being composed of puresoft rubber is very highly elastic, but its elastic qualities are not atall impaired by the passage of the lifting-pin through the aperture inits center. The pin is simply forced into position and the rubber bodyissimply seated upon it, but is not affixed thereto in any manner, noris the rubher body confined or compressed between any rigid disks ormetal substances, nor is any non-elastic or less elastic materialincorporated therewith, as in the bottle-stoppers now in common use.

While pure rubber is an expensive material compared with cork or with acompound stopper having a fabric incorporated therewith, still purerubber is practicallyindestructible for this use, and as the stopperrequires no extraneous fastening devices and is adapted to all ordinarybottles and adequate to maintain a perfect seal under all circumstancesmy improved stopper is more economical in use than any other with whichI am acquainted.

While I'prefer to construct my improved stopper in the forms hereinshown and described, still slight variations may be made therefrom.

I claim- 1. Abottle-stopper having a body composed of substantially puresoft rubber of slightly conical form tapering downwardly with a centralaperture and a lifting-pin passing through such aperture and having adisk or enlargement on its lower end to prevent its separation upwardlyand having its extremity proj ected above the upper surface of thestopper and provided with a head whereby it may be withdrawn,substantially as described.

2. A bottle-stopper having a body portion composed of substantially purehomogeneous soft rubber of tapering form, its height being slightly lessthan its shortest diameter, combined with a liftin g-pin passing througha central aperture in said stopper and provided with an enlargement atits lower end and with a head at its upper end, substantially asdescribed.

3. The combination with a bottle having in its neck a contracted portionor choke, of a stopper therefor, said stopper comprising a substantiallypure soft-rubber body having a central opening and a lifting-pin passingthrough said opening and having a disk to prevent its withdrawaltherefrom and a head to facilitate the removal of the stopper and thebody of the stopper being less in height than the distance from themouth of the bottle-neck to the contracted portion whereby the stoppermay be inserted so that its lower end shall pass below the contractedportion while the pin projects into the plane of the mouth in a positionconvenient for withdrawal, substantially as described.

4:. A bottlestopper comprising a substantially pure soft-rubber bodyandhaving a central vertical aperture, and a lifting-pin of greater lengththan said aperture and adapted to be inserted therethrough from thebottom upwardly, said pin having a disk or enlargement upon its lowerend and a groove in its extended portion whereby to provide a headhaving a peripheral bearing flange or shoulder of a diameter notexceeding that of the body of the pin, substantially as described.

CLIFTON H. DAVIS. WVitnesses:

O. O. LINTHICUM, E. L. HUBER.

